Algal bloom on Sodus Bay; photo: Jay Ross.
A September 29 workshop in Sodus will ask the public
to identify priorities for a healthy lake system.

September 11, 2012 -- Citizens living along Lake Ontario and its tributaries are being invited to provide input at a series of six Lake Ontario Basin Communities Visioning for a Healthy Lake workshops September 24-29.

New York Sea Grant, the Finger Lakes – Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance (FLLOWPA), and the Niagara County Soil and Water Conservation District are holding workshops in Lyndonville, Piffard, Webster, Henderson, Sodus, and Oswego to provide information on issues related to Lake Ontario and priority tributaries, including the Genesee and Oswego Rivers, and to gather public input on lake basin conditions and priorities for a healthy lake system.

“This important series of workshops calls on citizens of the Lake Ontario watershed to provide input on the current status of the watershed and to identify priorities, barriers and potential strategies for removing those barriers for a healthy coastal ecosystem,” says co-organizer New York Sea Grant Coastal Community Development Specialist Mary Penney.

“Participants will help identify the assistance they need for their communities to more fully engage in the protection and responsible use of Lake Ontario,” says co-organizer FLLOWPA Program Coordinator Kristy LaManche.

Workshop discussion will include review of the current Bi-National Lake Ontario Lakewide Management Plan and Lake Ontario Area of Concern Remedial Action Plans.

Workshop participants are expected to include local elected officials and planning boards, county agencies and water quality coordinating committees; watershed, lake and outdoor recreation associations; public agency representatives, and private citizens and business owners.

Proceedings of the September workshops’ series on the current condition of the Lake Ontario Watershed Basin, stakeholders’ concerns, and the resources and funding sources needed for implementation of priority projects and planning initiatives will be shared with local, State and federal decision-makers, and posted online at www.nyseagrant.org and www.fllowpa.org.

The free workshops are funded in part by Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant for the Lake Ontario Education and Outreach Project. For more information, contact New York Sea Grant at 315-312-3042 or FLLOWPA at 315-592-9663.

More Info:

The Bi-National Lake Ontario Lake Ontario Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) includes representatives of the U.S. and Canadian federal governments, New York State, the province of Ontario, and diverse stakeholders organizations. Learn more at http://epa.gov/greatlakes/ontario.html.

Areas of Concern:

Designated by International Joint Commission to concentrate available resources to clean up the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes.

U.S. and Canadian entities are cooperating to ensure Remedial Action Plans (RAP) are developed and implemented for each Area of Concern (AOC).

New York State has six AOCs: Buffalo River, Eighteen Mile Creek, Rochester Embayment, Oswego River/Harbor (delisted in 2006), Niagara River, St. Lawrence River at Massena, NY.